The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World

Synopsis

West Lake Restaurant in the city of Changsha illustrates the dynamic of the booming Chinese economy as director Chen Weijun examines the pronounced shifts of fortune and population in his home country, and the people who occupy every end of the spectrum.

The Guinness-certified biggest Chinese restaurant in the world, the five-thousand seat West Lake Restaurant is owned and operated by the Mrs. Qin Linz. A hungry entrepreneur, Mrs. Linz was working in a quarry when she was twelve, and now presides over a profitable empire that caters largely to the growing Chinese middle class.

Some of her employees show the same ambition as she did as a young girl, others are simply desperate. Mrs. Linz does her best to keep morale up her staff, hosting singing, dancing, and cooking competitions designed to playfully counterbalance the sometimes heavy workload.

The kitchen prepares approximately 150 ducks a day, and their flawless precision is sure to inspire awe in foodies everywhere.

But the kitchen isn't the only focus here, because as Weijun highlights the ways in which Mrs. Linz's personal and professional lives have merged, the viewer is invited to see life in contemporary China from a variety of distinctly different perspectives.